In focus: Zoonoses

September has seen us look more closely at zoonoses – diseases that can be transmitted from animals to humans. The WHO has estimated that there are over 200 zoonotic diseases, including many emerging diseases, such as leptospirosis and parasitic diseases. In addition to this, a large proportion of newly identified diseases arise from animals, and we spoke to Tracey Goldstein from the PREDICT project to ask – which viruses might jump the species barrier next?

Finally, the human–animal interface is also important with regards to antimicrobial resistance, as drugs used in agriculture and animal husbandry ultimately affect human health, and as part of our focus we have an opinion piece looking at this issue within helminth infections.